Catch me when I fall
by sadieimaculata
Summary: Set in V-Force. Mr Dickenson assigns the Bladebreakers a new member. Imaginative Mercedez Metcalfe's dream has finally come true. But leaving her sisters and mom comes at a deadly price. KaiOC
1. The baby, the house & the dragon

**Hey hi! This is my first time ever doing a fic. So please be nice and I'm open for constructive Criticism. But no flames!! Review please!**

**Chapter One**

The baby, the house and the dragon

"Guess what? We're moving!"

We all stared at her like she had gone crazy. Mom looked perfectly contented and ignored our looks of disbelief at her. I looked at her large belly. Her navel looked ready to pop any second. She was pregnant with her first boy and had caused a huge ripple, acting like guys were total heaven to have.

"He's been kicking all day! Gonna be a total jock when you grow up eh?" Mom jabbered proudly. "Gonna be one hell of a soccer player eh, Ronaldo?"

She hung her head over her swollen tummy as if she was waiting for an answer. "Yes, Mommy!"" she answered back in this squeaky baby voice.

"You're crazy mom! What's so the bid deal about guys anyway?!" My sister Saphaela grunted as she swung her arm out as if to knock every man's head off his neck just for being male. Saphaela was fourteen but she was incredibly tough and a feminist also. She could get the better of men of all ages and she would always have the last laugh. She had short spiky brown hair and glinting clever dark eyes and she was the tallest out of us Metcalfe girls, even taller than mom or Danike. She had a pierced nose, something I had always longed for but was too scared to get. I know it isn't right to have favourites in the family, but mine would be Saphaela.

"Cut it out, Saph!" my eldest sister Danike snapped as she snatched her coffee up to safety. She was sixteen years old and claimed that that made her an adult and she could do whatever she wanted, when she wanted. She looked identical to mom, only she tried her very best not to. Danike had mom's lovely thick blonde hair, but she dyed it black. Mom would wear miniskirts and contacts, Danike would wear fashionable glasses and skinny jeans. Low-slung so you could see her underwear if you were rude enough to do so in the first place.

"Why don't we all cut it out," mom said calmly. She had pink patches on her cheeks and that was the warning sign. She caught me staring at her belly. "Quit staring at my belly, Mercy!"

"How can she stop staring. It's so gross!" Saph exclaimed as she took a bite of toast.

"Oh, shit it's moving!" My older sister Tanelle squealed. Tanelle's only twelve, but she looks much older. She likes to look at herself quite a lot. But I'd probably do that too if I were as pretty as her. She looks like a negative Alice. She had long dark hair down to her waist. Poker straight and not a single split end or flaw in it. She had big, soulful green eyes and pouty pink lips like those dopey loveheart candy. She got a lot of those last Valentine's Day. She looks at herself while she makes up dance routines and sings. Most of the time, I hate her guts.

"Language, Tannie! This is so lame, mom! Why do we even have to move anyways when we've been playing musical chairs all over the freaking district!" Danike wailed.

We'd been all over North and South Block. South Block sucked because it didn't have proper heating and we found a dead dog in some long forgotten wardrobe. We then got placed at the bottom of North Block, but mom got in a fight with everyone on the bottom floor and people complained. It was alright to get moved though. Mine and Saph's bedroom had bugs in it during the summers and we froze to our deaths during the winters. But then we got placed at the top of North Block. That was when things seemed to be going our way for once.

Danike liked living on the top floor. Her boyfriend Tom lived right next door to us in number 148. She would generally hang out there so Tanelle would have their room to herself. She could dance about pretending to be a singer and watch herself in the mirror while perfecting dance moves. That was a reason why she liked living on the top floor. Saphaela liked living on the top floor because she found this trap door which lead us to the top of the building itself. That was where everyone beybladed. I don't wish to boast or anything, but I was pretty good. Well I'm certainly the best out of my sisters. Danike says its a childish toy and totally infantile, Saphaela would do it, but she's got skyrocketing and fighting to do with a bunch of guys who wanna get up onto her territory up in the top floors. I liked living on the top floors. We had a nice view of the city, even though we don't live in the prettiest parts. Me and Dratido, my bitbeast/mascot would stare out the huge windows and pretend we were flying over the rooftops and over the ocean. Over to Sangria, where Dratido was born.

Dratido's my dragon, it's got earth powers and I sewed a simple plush toy that looked a bit like it. I carry it up the sleeve of my hoodie everywhere I go. I give its wings a stroke every now and then. I needed to stroke her now because Danike and Saphaela and Tanelle were all yelling and I knew it bothered Dratido.

"We can't leave this apartment! Not when Tom helped us pretty our rooms up!" Danike yelled, she was acting as if Tom had done a whole Interior design makeover. But all he did was paint her and Tanelle's room, two walls black and two walls pink. It 'balanced' things with Tanelle and Danike.

"We wanna stay here! North Block rocks! South Block just sucked! And so did Central! North's my territory!" Saphaela argued as she tore the crust of her toast viciously with her big teeth.

"I got my room just the way I liked it!" Tanelle wailed. She glared her green eyes at Mom. "This is so lame! You never think about me, Mom! Besides, we'll never get an apartment as awesome as this! Especially not in this district!"

"You are totally right, Tanelle!" Mom said suddenly. She closed her eyes and then looked at us which made us all shut it, even Saphaela.

"We're not getting a better apartment in this district. We're moving, alright? Nothing you say or do can make me change my mind! We have to act on it! My tarot cards and the wheel of fortune has spoken! It's time for a new beginning!" Mom's eyes were shining, she looked like she had forgotten that we were there.

"Ugh, you and that pointless fortune-telling! You're like - what? Those Roma ladies! A gypsy! My fortune's right next door!" Danike exclaimed angrily, the anger-dimples on her chin had appeared, I sidled up close to Saphaela, scared that Danike was going to let rip.

"There aren't many good vibes here, honey," Mom replied soothingly as she reached out to pat Danike's hand. Danike just slapped it away.

"Oh yeah...and who's stupid fault was it to get herself knocked up again?!" Saphaela spat.

"I can't help fate, honey. It's all in the stars," Mom looked up smiling as if the entire Solar system and the Milky Way was shining across our grotty living room ceiling.

"We did a project last week on the stars at school. I didn't do so well in it. My compass went wonky and everything went wobbly," I commented.

"I did that project when I was in Fourth Grade. I got an A," Tanelle bragged.

"You just always have to brag at any given moment, don't you Tannie?!" I snapped. "Who cares about your dumb A Grades."

I cared. I cared a hell lot. It was totally unfair that Tanelle got to be really hot _and_ really smart. Saphaela wasn't that hot, but she was smart as hell, even though she flunked on purpose during school. Danike was hot but not so big in the Brains department. I was plain, and more people think I'm an idiot than I am smart.

"Pipe down, girls. Now listen up, we're going to have a fresh start. We're leaving this hellhole altogether!" Mom said as she clapped her hands together as if to seal the deal.

"We so aren't!" Saphaela responded, as she folded her arms. "You can't make us!"

"I can. And I will," Mom said as she waved a letter in front of our noses. We just thought it was some bill or something like that which Mom never bothered about. We didn't really pry into the fact that Mom was actually reading a letter for once. Saphaela thought it was something about her pregnancy. Tannell thought it might have been one of our fathers coming back into contact with us. I didn't create a theory, I just wandered why she had't crumpled it up and thrown it in to the garbage can as usual.

Danike swiped the letter.

"The Abba District?" she read.

"Isn't it just wonderful?" Mom remarked as she flopped back even further on her sofa. "See Saphaela? It's fate."

"Holy crap! This place is in Ohio! How can I see Tom?!" Danike yelled.

"You've been seing way too much of that guy!" Mom snapped. "You're too young to get serious."

"Oh well that's rich coming from you! When you had me when you were what?? Sixteen!"

"That's just my point. I know what I'm doing!"

"You're moving us all to some dustball in Ohio just split Tom and I up?!" Danike said as her face started to crumple and tears started falling down her face.

"Oh for Pete's sake! Quit being a Drama queen and don't get your panties in a bunch! You just think that the whole universe revolves around you and Tom! Well it doesn't! I'm doing this for all of us. We need a bigger place now that you're going to have a baby brother!" Mom stroked her stomach as if she was soothing it. She yelled at us as if we had begged for a brother. We'd all been freaked out and ashamed when she told us she was pregnant. Again.

"You can't get bigger than three-bedroom flats! Not ones which don't cost like our arms and legs!" Saphaela grunted.

"I've got my bedroom wall in the perfect 'hot men' collage! I'll ruin it if I tear it down," Tanelle whined.

"You can make another one. You'll have tons of space. This is a _house_! With a our own individual rooms with a couple extra. And our own garden too!" Mom emphasised.

We all did a double take on the house part. We did a triple take on the garden part. I clutched Dratido as I took this all in.

"Will we be allowed pets?" I asked delicately.

"Yes, Mercedez."

"Real ones? Lizards?" I asked getting enthusiastic. I saw a whole rainforest before me, all these green lizards were there, flicking their tongues and tails maliciously at Tanelle and crawling up her legs and into her skirt, making her wiggle and squirm in all types of ways. They befriended me and brought me gifts of fruit and offerings of pretty leaves. Dratido quivered, trying to stretch out his forgotten legs.

"Mercedez! Shut your mouth! You look so gormless!" Mom snapped, snapping me out of my happy daydream altogether.

"Ok, if you're having a lizard...I'm having a big fluffy cat!" Tanelle declared as she tossed her dark hair, giving me a mouthful of hair, she had this malicious glint in her eyes. "I'll have lots of big fluffy white Persian cats. I'll call them Snow White, Sugar, Ivory and Cloud!"

Phantom cats, as huge as bears were now swatting my poor defenceless lizards away from Tanelle and pounced on my precious lizards. Saphaela cocked her head at me, she knew me too well to know that my imagination was working over time. She saw the warning sign when she caught me clutching my sleeve, trying to soothe poor Dratido.

"What are you talking about?!" Danike shrieked, she was still crying and her Hypnose mascara had run and looked like really messy gothic eyeliner. "This is insane! Dogs, cats and leaping lizards! We can't move! I WON'T!!"

"Oh yes you will!" Mom yelled back furiously. "Quit that yelling, Danike! I don't want my blood pressure going up! It's bad for my baby!"

"You and that _fucking_ baby!" Danike yelled. We all blinked, Tanelle stopped tossing her hair arrogantly, Saphaela stopped crunching her toast and I stopped soothing Dratido.

"QUIT IT!" Mom yelled, she really looked furious, we didn't dare move. Tanelle uttered the awkward cough. "I'm not having it, you hear me? I know you're miserable because of Tom, but you can't really think that about your poor little baby brother!"

"Yes I do!" Danike screamed exasperately. "You're so selfish Mom! You act like none of us girls matter! You're just all over that freaking boy! But you're ruining all our lives! You should hear what they say about us in North block. In South! In Central! In this whole Goddamned district! What they say about YOU!"

"Well I won't have to hear it anymore. Because we're moving! You can give me trash talk all you want, but it's settled! It's signed and totally official!" Mom slammed the letter on the desk and in the process she hurt her hand.

"ARGH! Now look what you made me do!"

"GOOD!" Danike stomped out and took her denim jacket with her and slammed the door. Saphaela took a nervous bite of her toast.

"As if I give a shit about what those hauns say about me!" Mom muttered under her breath and sipping her coffee. "Anyways what have they been saying about me?"

I looked at Tanelle and Saphaela. Tanelle got her big mouth open, ready to spill the beans but Saphaela gave her a harsh kick on the shin.

"So this...Abba District?" Saphaela began, a diversion tactic. "How did you hear about it?"

People were always talking crap about her. But we've never said it to her, not even when we were mad enough to do so. But then, they always talked crap about us too. They called me a Vegetable. Tanelle a slut. Saphaela a psychopath. Danike a satanic goth.

"People were always saying stuff about it. Its blocks, especially its Anni Frid block. Where our house is!" Mom said proudly. "So I went down there to check it out. Turns out that there was a house available. So I went down to the council and did all the persuasive talk. Then when the girl at the council mentioned the Anni Frid block and I got this tight ache in my chest-"

"Indigestion," Saphaela mumbled.

"_Intuition_! I just knew it was the place for us, especially when she said that all four blocks had streets of houses with gardens for big families."

"Intuition...you forgot to pay for Mercedez's art tuitions!" Tanelle said suddenly. I glared at her. This was the tactic to make her remember about school and send us off.

"Oh yeah! And you three better go to school now! you're so late!" Mom said hurriedly.

"No point going," Saphaela said as she sipped orange juice. "Not if we're moving."

"You skive off half the time anyway, you rebel!" Mom joked half seriously and half playfully. "Well you can make yourself useful and go down to the supermarket and get as many cardboard boxes as you can. We'll need them for packing."

"_I'm going _to school!" Tanelle announced. "I'm telling all my friends that we're moving. We're really going to live in a proper house with a garden? Can I have my own room? It sucked when I always had to share with Danike! And black is so...lame!"

We_ all_ shared. We started off as Danike and Saphaela and me and Tanelle. But that didn't work out. But Danike and Tanelle and Saphaela and me worked out perfect. But it was going to be totally awesome that we would have our own bedrooms.

"Can I have my own bedroom too, Mom? Can all of us?" I asked.

"We'll have to see, sweetie. Maybe. I don't know exactly how many rooms there are or how big they are."

"I call dibs on the biggest room!" We heard Tanelle's voice coming from her room as she tried to find a miniskirt.

"Hang on, Tanelle! I'll need the biggest room for me and the baby! I've been thinking about taking another loan out. I just can't _stand _those cheap second-hand mess! Who wants puked up clothes for their baby boy? I saw this absolutely cute cot in -"

Mom was off on her baby-boy rants. She'd be talking mothercare for the next hour or so. Saphaela yawned and poured herself some Froot Loops and put on an X-Files tape. She rolled up her sleeves and ruffled her hair into its usual spiky style and kicked off her tall converse.

Tanelle packed her bag and rolled up her skirt, ostentatiously playing at being the good girl.

"So, the planets are...Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn," I mused aloud. I was still thinking about the planets.

"You left out Pluto and Uranus, moron!" Tanelle cackled wildly at the 'Uranus' part.

"Yeah well who in their right minds would want to name a planet after Mickey Mouse's dog and something where crap comes out of!" I said. "So what's the last planet?"

"Earth, dope! The planet we live on? Though you're generally on a different planet altogether, Mercedez! Planet Crazy," Tanelle sneered as she stuck her pointy pink tongue out at me. I glared my turqouise eyes at her.

"Oh, hold the phone, Tanelle! Take Mercedez with you!"

"Oh for Pete's sake! I haven't got _time _to do a frigging bus service, mom! I'm_ late_!"

"I don't wanna go! There's no point, like Saph said. Not now if we are moving!" I complained.

"You'll get my ass in trouble, Mercy," Mom said. But I batted my eyes at her and did my 'poor little me' lip. Mom rolled her eyes mock-exasperately.

"Ok, fine you got me! You can stay off school, Mercedez," Mom sighed.

"YAY!"

"Why don't you like school, huh?" I shurgged, there wasn't much point getting started into the topic.

"Who's your teacher? Is she giving you a hard time? LKook you just tell her it ain't your fault that you'r heads up in the clouds all the time. It's just the way you were born." It wasn't the teacher, it was the other kids. Beyblading wasn't much of a fad in my school. In fact no one knew but me. People thought me a loon for wanting to play with a spinning top. This girl, Stacy Hardstaff, had spotted me whispering into my hoodie cuff and she pounced on Dratido. She told everyone in my year and they all stuck their tongues out, imitating lizards and screwed their fingers into their foreheads and called me Lizardbrain. I would have corrected them, telling them that Dratido was a dragon, not a lizard, but a lizard was the closest thing to it.

"Well you'll be at a new school once we live in Anni Frid. I always admired Anni Frid the most out of Abba. What about Fridlin for the baby's name?" Mom suggested.

"If you call him Fridlin he'll be mocked for life, Mom," Saphaela called in between bites.

"Call him Justin...or Brad," Tanelle said as she came out of the bathroom sticking of perfume. "Or Johnny. Or Collin."

"I want something really special. Unusual," Mom mused aloud.

"What other actors do I like?" Tanelle wondered aloud. "I know! Baby Orlando!" She hooted with laughter and rushed off to school. I sighed and started to plait Mom's hair.

"Help me think up a good name, Mercedez. I tried real hard with you girls. You're all so lucky - totally individual. Unique! There aren't many Danikes or Saphaelas or Tanelles or Mercedezes here! I'm stuck with boring old Susan/Sue. There's millions of Sues!"

"There's only one of you, Mom!" I said as I finished one plait and tied it with a ribbon from the gifts drawer and added some paperclips to it.

"What are you doing to me? Turning me into...who is she? Pocahantas?" Mom asked laughing. This gave me an idea.

"Hey you could spell your name differently. S-I-O-U-X. Like the Indian tribe. Talk about unique!" I said proudly.

"Well that's great idea, Mercedez!"

**Please review!!**


	2. Packing and the Dads

**Ok, guys just to let you know Kai and the Bladebreakers won't be coming in until the sixth or seventh chapter. And the subject of beyblading will come in during the fourth, max. fifth chappie. And note: This is set in V-Force, so no Daichi (TTTT) and Hilary's in the picture. :( **

**Chapter Two**

Packing and the Dads

I got packed in a jiffy. I stuffed my clothes into one shopping bag. They got a bit squashed but I didn't really care. I don't really care much about my clothes. Most of my clothes used to be Tanelle's and she adores pink and glitter, tight and skimpy stuff that shows off her perfect figure. I haven't _got _a figure. I'm so small that even miniskirts go past my knees and I'm so skinny that everything looks like a sack on me and I'm so pale that pink makes me look like a bean curd. I got born prematurely and had to stay in the hospital for an eternity. I never really caught up with anyone my age. Tanelle says I'm the runt of the litter.

The only garments I actually like are my denim shorts and some t-shirts and a special pair of tall converse, but I really love my white hoodie. It's magic because it stretches everytime it's washed so it's grown with me the last two years. It's got blue and turqouise dragon wings at the back and red, tangerine and yellow flames up the side and purple and pinkish waves on the shoulder. It had a zip up pocket at the front for my trigger and ripcord and my Beyblade.

My dad bought it for me. He took me out for the day, just him and me. He saw that I had goosebumps up and down my arms so he bought me my hoodie. He also bought me my locket. It's got Aurora Borealis and Opals stuck at the top and it's in a heart shape. It cost a lot but Dad said it was to make up for everything else. It has a picture of him and me in it.

I packed all my possessions into one of the cardboard boxes Saphaela had brought from the supermarket. There was my big book of myths and legends at the bottom. I loved their intricate illustrations, the swirling dragons and the fiery phoenixes. Then there were my notebooks and pens. My big set of Fabre Castel colouring pencils. My even bigger set of Caran D'Ache felt tips. My rainbow gel pen which coloured pink, red and purple at the same time and my other rainbow gel pen which coloured in blue, pink and green at the same time. A couple of posters and my old cuddly toys. There was Danike's one-eared teddy, Saphaela's one-eyed dolphin and Tanelle's Barbies. I didn't play with them anymore, but I'd have felt terrible throwing them out.

Tanelle had done _a lot of _throwing out. She had thrown out old make-up and some long forgotten clothes. But she still had a suit case and three boxes overflowing with her make-up and magazines.

Saphaela had even less clothes than me and just one box containing a pair of rollerskates, her big grunge boots and her _X-files _and _Buffy _DVDs and all her laptop and I-phone (how Mom managed to fork out for that I had no idea).

Danike was still refusing to pack. She wasn't speaking to Mom either. She wasn't speaking to any of us because we were all ecstatic at the idea of a house with a garden now. Danike spent every second next door with Tom and his family. Mom got so mad at her she went and banged on Tom's mom's door and they had a huge cat fight right on the landing with Danike joining forces with Tom's mom.

Saphaela and Tanelle and I had to do most of Mom's packing but we divided it up easily enough. Saphaela took charge of all the heavy house stuff, Tanelle got her clothes and make-up organized and packed and I did Mom's mystic paintings, her tarot cards and astrology charts and her crystal ball and precious speaking stones and her Ouija Board. I had to pack for Mom's little boy too. We both agreed on the name Hiashi. It meant sun in Japanese and the sun was a strong symbol of male energy, according to Mom. She still hadn't decided on Hiashi's furniture. She'd gone off the Mothercare selection.

"I want something traditional you know? It would be awesome to get something personally designed. But that might cost us an arm or two," Mom grimaced.

"Just a bit," Saphaela reamarked as she wound up a bunch of cords and shoved them at the bottom of a box. "Remeber, you gotta pay for the removal van."

"Well I was thinking about asking one of your dads for a bit of help," Mom stated. I sat up proudly. The only one of our dads Mom was still in touch with was _my _dad.

"I'll see if he can hire us a van," Mom said.

"Or loan us his hearse!" Tanelle cackled, Saphaela joining in. I glared at them, scowling.

"Get lost, you!" I said it so fiercely that even Saphaela edged back. "Don't you dare pick on my Dad! I don't know why everyone thinks his job's so funny!"

"It's not funny. It's downright creepy!" Tanelle sneered. "It's lucky that you're not a little kid who needs her hand held any more. Just think about it! Holding his hand after he's done one slimy day of embalming!"

"Yeah...funnily enough I had a bit of a hassle with that part," Mom remarked, "I made him take a long bath everytime he came near me. But I still caught a whiff of something weird."

"HE DOESN'T STINK!" I yelled, almost in tears.

"Of course he doesn't, Mercy!" Saph comforted me as she hugged me.

"Here, Mercedez, turn that frown upside down, sweetie. I didn't mean that about your dad, you know that! Come here," Mom pulled me onto her knees, I was careful to mind her bump. "Your dad's a very great guy, I think he was the best out of my special guys."

Tanelle has the ears of a cat. "You always said _my _dad was your all time favourite!"

"All your dads were great guys!" Mom said. She sighed and settled back into her seat, stroking her bump. She started telling the dad story. We all knew it like the backs of our hands. She told this to us when we were going to bed. It was like our special bedtime story.

"First there was my lovely Marcus, Danike's dad. We were childhood sweethearts and we first started dating during our Freshman's year in high school - just think! We were so in love. Thought we knew how to handle it all too. I couldn't help but be ecstatic when I knew I was having Danike, though I knew my mom would blow it out of proportion. Marcus did his best to stand by me, but how could he be a father of a kid when he still was one?"

"Then, Saphaela's dad came," Mom continued, putting her arm around Saphaela.

"Matt knew where he was going alright, and for a while he took great care of me. He was a good dad to Danike too. He could be so sweet and tender with us. So passionate and loving. But he was a scary guy all the same, especially when he was messed with. He made my heart melt and I loved him with all of it, but I knew I had to leave him when he started hitting me around."

"Good riddance," Saphaela muttered as she smacked her hands down to her knees.

"Then there was _my _dad, Lawrence," Tanelle declared proudly. "He was the hottest wasn't he, Mom. I bet you'd have stayed with him forever if he hadn't died. " She looked at me pityingly. "Then _you _wouldn't be here, Mercedez! You wouldn't even exist!"

I glared at her and kicked her hard on the shin. I knew she was just winding me up. But it was working all the same.

"Hey! There'll be no words like that here, Tanelle!!" Tanelle rolled her eyes. "Of course there was going to be a Mercedez!" She waved her hand in the air. "Read my hand! Four gorgeous girls and one bouncing boy! Five kids in total! It was my destiny, sweetie! It was so sad losing Lawrence. You're right, Tanelle. He was so rugged my heart just hammered when I just looked at him. He was so talented too. He's have been a star in the music world if he just had the right breaks. It wasn't reallyhis fault he got into the drug scene. It goes with territory right? Oh dear golly! It was terrible when the police called me." A tear slid down Mom's cheek. She always cried when she got to the Lawrence part of the Dad story.

Tanelle snuffled and puckered up like she was crying too. She always acts like losing her dad was the big tragedy of her life, but as he took his overdose when she was two years old I don't think she can even remember him. Mom ran her hands through Tanelle's lovely long hair and gave her a kiss on the cheek as if they were both still mourning the loss of Lawrence.

"Tell me about _my _dad!" I asked, sticking my head in.

"That's exactly what I'm going to do, Mercedez. Dear Frankie, he was such a sweetheart. I was just totally out of it. He helped me arrange everything and get things organized-"

"The oak cofifn, the Sycamore coffin or the deluxe mahogany lined with purple silk?" Tanelle muttered cruelly. I dug her painfully in the ribs.

"Zip it Tanelle. If it weren't for Frankie's kindness...I'm not sure I'd have made it back to sanity. He helped me out so much, and every night I went a bit nuts even more..."

"And then you had an itty little nutcase with creepy old Frankie," Tanelle sneered, even Saphaela could see she had gone too far and slapped her arm.

"Hey! Alright, I guess I haven't been as lucky as I'd hoped with my guys-"

"To put it mildly," Saphaela mumbled.

"So I'm gonna shack up and it's just gonna be us Metcalfe girls. Then we'l have Junior to look after us when we're oldies." Saphaela cocked her head.

"What about Junior's dad?" Mom had this dreamy look in her eyes and she smiled.

"I knew it was just going to be a brief encounter," she sighed. "He was so beautiful and artistic too! Imagine, I'd have died for a portrait of us Metcalfe girls." Mom sighed wistfully.

"What about his name?" I asked.

"She probably doesn't know it!" Tanelle commented shrewdly as she poked me with her pointy nails. I swatted them away.

"Hey! I need space. I'm gonna call your dad now!" Mom said as she looked at me. She stabbed the numbers out onto the telephone.

"Hey, Frankie, hi. It's been a while. How've you been?" Mom said coolly in her 'you-can-reason-with-me' voice. She launched into a huge conversation before she mentioned packing or a removal van of any sort. Once she did, she started to tighten her lips a lot and lick them and clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. This was the warning sign...she was gonna blow any second. Then she started to smile.

"You're a darling! We still share a kid, pal! Our Mercy! You want a word with her?"

I waited, I tried to conjure up spit in my mouth but it just dried completely. I waited.

"Oh...ok. Bye!" Mom put the phone down. "Sorry, Mercedez, but daddy's hooked up with work right now. But he told me to give you a hug."

I went into my room after Mom had given me the hug. I flopped on to Saphaela's bed because mine had all the junk on it. I cried my eyes out, I missed him, it felt like he didn't even want to see me, or awknowledge me. I heard Saphaela coming in.

"Hey! What are you doing in my bed? Frig, I sound like the frigging three bears!" Saphaela giggled. "Are you crying, Goldilocks?" She sat down beside me and observed my watery eyes.

"You upset because your dad didn't want to talk to you?" Saph asked, I wasn't shocked, she could read me like a book any day of the week. "Hey! I never saw my Dad, but do I give crap? No sir!"

"Yeah well your dad was nuts. No offence, Saph. He hit Mom and Danike. I'm assuming he also hit you too. Even though you were just a baby!"

"I'd like to see him try now!" Saph said, punching thin air. "Mom's better without him! She's much better without _any _of them!"

"How come Mom can't see any of them ditching her or disappointing her in her crystal ball and her tarot cards and her star charts?"

"Mom and her little fortune-telling! Don't drink up any of that phoney-baloney guff, Mercedez. It's just a glass ball and some old cards and some stupid figures about the stars. How can Mom honestly tell the future with that crap?"

"Because she's psychic?"

"She's just as psychic as the next moron that walks into the building!" Saphaela scoffed. She grabbed the hand which was holding Dratido. She gave it a little stroke. We jumped as we heard Danike coming in. Mom said something, then Danike.

"I'm not frigging well going and that's that!" she yelled. She stomped off, slamming the door.

"Mmmmm...I can see for sure she's just as psychic as Danike!" Saphaela grimaced.

**Please review!!**


	3. Lenny

**Chapter Three.**

**Lenny**

"That was so lame last night, mom. You completely blew your top off with me last night when I came back at twelve while you were so cool about Dani staying out ALL NIGHT!" Saphaela complained as she crunched her toast.

"It's different, Saph!" Mom snapped back. "I knew Danike was safe and sound next door while you were getting your butt kicked by a bunch of guys!"

"It was me that did the butt kicking. No one kicks my butt," Saph grumbled. "And anyways how can you HONESTLY be sure that Dani's safe? What if she and Tom-"

"ENOUGH, SAPH!" we all stopped whatever movements we were doing. Mom hardly ever went mad, especially at Saph. She rubbed her temples while Saph stopped chewing abruptly. "I'm sorry Saph, its just...I'm worried about her." Tanelle put her arms around Mom while I got Dratido to peck her on the nose. Tanelle was licking the jelly off her toast.

"EAT the toast, Tanelle! You need your strength!"

"Why? Oh my gosh!! Do I have to lift things into a van?! Mom you are SO selfish you never think about us! You're just too worried about Danike getting knocked up to care about any of us!! And I'm gonna fuck up my nails!" Tanelle started to hyperventilate while Saphaela and I rolled our eyes. Tanelle had painted her nails silver and had gold stars on them.

"Like, Oh em gee!! The great Tanelle must lift something! Let's hope she doesn't fuck up her back or more importantly fuck up her nails in the process, ladies and gentlemen! And Mom's not selfish Tan, you are," Saphaela sneered. Tanelle took a hold of the pot of jam and hurled it at Saphaela's head who smirked it and dodged it easily. "You REALLY need to work on that aim if you wanna get a shot of me! Haha!"

"Stop it, girls. And anyways, you might need to help out Tanelle. All of you would need to. The guy who's giving us and our stuff a lift to our dream house has hurt his back. So he won't be of much help," Mom grimaced. "Mercedez, you'll do the cleaning in the bedrooms, Tanelle, take the light and soft stuff into the van and clean up the main room, the bathrooms and the kitchen. Saphaela, you round up your boy buddies to help us out. O.K?" We all nodded, even though it wasn't ok. We were all wondering, "What about Danike?" She hadn't packed a single thing in her half of the room.

"Mercedez!" Mom's voice was coming from Danike's room. I closed my eyes hoping that she wasn't doing what I dread that she would do. I gulped and slid off my chair and padded into Danike's room. Her half of the room was pretty much untouched. I saw her bed was messy and unslept in and cringed as I saw a wispy thong and bra on the duvet. I averted my eyes over to Mom as she pulled out all of Danike's drawers and tossed their contents onto the duvet.

"Mom, maybe we should go next door and ask Danike if she wants to help pack her own stuff," I said delicately. Mom looked at me as if I had gone mad.

"Oh yeah and graze my knuckles and scream myself hoarse. I don't think so, honey. Whether she likes it or not we are leaving this District forever and that's that! She should have accepted it and should have seen it coming when I got pregnant," Mom replied hastily as she bundled up the duvet to make a sack. I was about to open my mouth to say that it was wasn't fair I closed it. Life isn't fair. Like it or lump it.

Saphaela was rounding up some of the guys. She didn't like any of them, even as JUST friends but they all idolized her. She got half the guys from all over the district moving huge cardboard boxes and pieces of furniture inside our apartment and outside. But these guys were just about as orderly as common animals. Two of them had already started a fight over who picked up the lighter box and Mom and I could hear their swearing match even from Danike's room. Mom rolled her eyes and rubbed her bulging belly and I bounded outside to watch the spectacle. In my eagerness to watch I almost knocked a poor skinny guy flying.

"Sorry!"

"No, no, your fine, chickie. You wouldn't happen to know where the Metcalfes live??"

"Your looking at one of them!" I said, I realized just then that he was the guy with the van. My dad's buddy. "You're my dad's friend aren't you? I'm Mercedez, his daughter!" I took a better look at him. He had an awkward expression on his face and looked like he really didn't want to be here.

"Well...er...yeah. Frankie's my work mate, I'm Lenny," he said rather nervously. He hitched his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Mercedez! I've been making my neck hoarse just calling for you! Where _were _you?!" She looked up and noticed Lenny. She smiled and flicked her hair back. "Hi, I'm Susan Metcalfe. This is Mercedez. Shall we start this trainwreck?" Lenny gulped.

"But...Frankie did tell you about my back...did he?"

"Yeah. Everything's hunky-dory, pal. You're a darling to help out. Just one quick favour!" Mom whipped into Danike's room and dragged her duvet with her clothes in it and shoved it to Lenny. "I just need you to carry these clothes!" Lenny gulped and saw he wasn't open to very many options. I glared at Mom's back. Some of the clothes were starting to fall out of the duvet sack. I picked up after Lenny and helped out.

"Hey! What the Fuck are you doing with my clothes!!" I rolled my eyes as I expected an avalanch of clothes to erupt. "MOM!! WHAT'S THIS FREAK DOING WITH MY CLOTHES!!"

"What am I doing with your clothes? Packing them up into the van, Danike what else does it look like I'm doing?! Sending them to charity?!" Mom demanded I sighed as I sensed a full on Metcalfe-cat fight to culminate from this tussle.

"Eh...well it DOES look like it!! Even my dress!" Danike plucked a black sequined cocktail dress from Lenny, causing an avalanche of clothes all over the balcony. The ensuing yelling match had sent Tanelle and Saphaela from the kitchen and the van.

"You can quit all this nonsense, Mom. I'm not budging and that's that! Don't you get it? I love Tom." Mom looked deep into Danike's eyes, which were watery, as if she was on the verge of tears. She suddenly hugged her.

"Danike, can't you learn by my mistakes? You might think you love Tom but it won't last."

"IT WILL!" Danike yelled furiously as she slapped away Mom's arms.

"Well, if you think your relationship's going to be a 'happily ever after' one. Then I'm sure you could both do a small break of a month or two. I need you to help me get my life together when we move. I can't do anything properly, not with Hiashi in here. You see?"

"Mom, you don't need Danike. We can help you!" I insisted. With Danike in the picture, more arguments were likely spring up about the most trivial things. I liked the peace. Mom turned to face me and ruffled my hair.

"Oh, Mercedez. You're too little, Tanelle's too bitchy and Saph's way too boyish. Danike-" Mom turned to Danike - "You're the eldest. I need you. But you can take a hike the moment Hiashi's born and I'm fit and well. Please. I really need you to be there for me." Mom looked at Danike, not even blinking. Danike broke down and nodded in between sobs. "Thank you, honey."

While this 'touching family' scene had taken place, Lenny had placed Danike's clothes into the van and came back, looking shaken and rather furious.

"I don't like those boys toying around inside my van. They're playing up and getting well fresh with me!" Lenny grumbled.

"Well, boys will be boys. If they're getting fresh with you just tell Saphaela. She'll deal with them well," Mom replied as she tied up a bunch of rugs together. She looked at me, Tanelle, Saphaela and Danike and smiled tearfully. Danike flounced off to Tom who was waiting for her with open arms. They kissed a passionate twirly tongue kiss. Saphaela pretended to vomit while Tanelle watched enviously. When Tom let go of Danike, I made Dratido wave to him. Unbeknownst to Danike, Tom beybladed up in the rooftops. He was newbie to the sport and I'd beaten him quite a few times. He waved back covertly when Danike's back was turned.

Tanelle started flirting with the guys in Saphaela's group. Hinting heavily that she wouldn't mind a face-sucking session. The guys howled with laughter and made loud sucky noises to her, ridiculing her. Tanelle flounced off, annoyed.

"Honestly, I don't get why you hang out with those losers!" Tanelle sneered, putting a rather obvious emphasis on the 'losers'. "They aren't even hot."

"Hot has nothing to do with who will get into my gang. Besides, I don't do gangs. And they hang out with me, not the other way round," Saphaela corrected.

"Right, well now that all the packing's done, let's get outta this hellhole," Mom exclaimed. "Put Tom down, Danike and get your rear into the van. Say bye to your little gang, Saphaela. Tanelle quit showing off ok? Mercy don't you want to say goodbye your friends?"

"Mom, why are you even asking? Mercedez and friends don't appear on the same line. EVER!" Tanelle smirked. Saphaela threw a stick at her.

"Wait up! I have to go to the rooftop!" I sped off before anyone could say anything about dangerous or anything. That was what I was most sick of. The fact that I always had to be careful in whatever I did. Mom would ALWAYS get one of my sisters to do something with me no matter what. I felt suffocated and annoyed. That was why I started to beyblade. No one to interfere, or protect, or watch over me. I was glad. It gave me my independence and liberty. I ran up the stairs and saw Hikaru there. He was my lifelong rival and I had never beaten him once.

Hikaru wasn't doing much, his blade was spinning and that was it. He gave me a weak smile. (A/N: Yes, this is Hikaru, Daichi's friend)

"I'm moving away today," I said suddenly. I had no idea what to say. Come to think of it, I had hardly said much to him ever since I knew about Mom's pregnancy.

"You are, huh? Well, Sadie, have a good time," Hikaru said. I looked at him. I had expected more of an outburst from him. He was still for a second but then he reached for his wrist and pulled off a bracelet. It was just a silly old thread thing, but it still meant a lot. He handed it over to me wordlessly. I looked at the small piece of plaited threads and then hugged him. I knew I would miss him a lot. I felt his hand pat my head awkwardly. I looked up to him and smiled.

"Thank you. I'll see you...soon," I said, feeling ridiculous and nostalgic. A weird feeling of sadness bubbled up in my stomach. I ran back to the van without looking back.

"Well, girls. This is it. Say goodbye to this dump!" Mom sneered, not bothering to keep her voice low. I got into the van and squashed in, up close to the window. I couldn't resist one last look up at the rooftops.

I saw a flash of purple. Hikaru's blade reflected from the sun.


End file.
